The present invention relates generally to a manner by which remotely to effectuate performance of a transaction service, such as a banking transaction, through the use of a radio communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus, and an associated method, for remotely effectuating performance of the transaction service from a mobile terminal.
Various contemporary banking, and other transaction, services are used remotely by customers. Prior remote transaction services divide into two main groups, namely those utilizing the Internet and those utilizing Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN). For instance, a person having a personal computer (PC) connected to the Internet may establish a data connection to the server of the bank and take advantage of normal banking services. Examples include inquiries on account balances, inquiries as to last transactions, bill payments, etc.
The PC may be connected to the Internet via a modem, radio link, local area network (LAN), or the like. This introduces many problems such as PC configuration difficulties for an inexperienced operator, unreliable Internet connections, long delays because of data traffic jams, and high cost of necessary equipment as well as the cost of the Internet connection.
An alternative way of using remote banking services is to employ a conventional desktop phone connected to the PSTN. A user inserts the necessary information (bill reference, account numbers, passwords, amount of money, etc.) by use of the phone keypads. Keystrokes produce dual tone, multi-frequency (DTMF) signals which are interpreted by the tone recognition equipment at the bank.
The customer inserted information is further passed to the bank central computer which handles the desired transaction or transactions. The banking services utilizing DTMF phones are exposed to errors. For instance, it is quite difficult for a service user to control long sequences of inserted digits without seeing them simultaneously on a display. In addition, there are also some primitive banking services available for GSM phones as Short Message Service (SMS) services.
There have not been any major solutions to the aforementioned problems. For instance, the best solution other than higher speed modems to overcome heavy Internet traffic problems is apparently still to be usage of the banking services outside the business hours. New encryption algorithms and methods have developed which have improved the security of pure Internet banking services.
The present invention overcomes most of the problems present in conventional banking services as described above and provides a new process and system of managing and monitoring personal banking services. The architecture of the present invention can include a set-top box equipped with a television, a mobile terminal, and a server of a transaction service provider connected to each other via a network such as Internet, GSM and/or BlueTooth networks.
When a user requests a certain transaction, e.g. banking, service, a security check is initially performed. If the user is granted permission for the service requested, a corresponding template form is downloaded from the server of the transaction service provider onto the set-top box and displayed on a television screen. The user may fill out the form by taking advantage of a personal phone interface of the mobile terminal. The numeric data input by the user is then uploaded onto the server of the transaction service provider as a short message via a GSM network and the desired transaction may take place. Various implementation embodiments of the system architecture are possible to provide the best possible flexibility, stability, and the ability to adjust to the fluctuating network conditions.
The foregoing and other features, utilities and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.